The invention relates to a liquid-cooled, particularly water-cooled internal-combustion engine, particularly to a water-cooled diesel engine, having a number of a number of cooling ducts, which are constructed in the internal-combustion engine and are assigned to different cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine which carry a cooling liquid, and having one or several liquid radiators for cooling the cooling liquid carried in the cooling circuits.
In the case of higher-capacity liquid-cooled internal-combustion engines, for example, in the case of large-volume diesel engines for a steady-state use or a use in landcraft or seacraft, a number of cooling ducts, which are constructed in the internal-combustion engine and are assigned to different cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine which carry a cooling liquid, are provided for cooling the internal-combustion engine and its auxiliary assemblies, such as charge air coolers or similar assemblies, and one or several liquid radiators are provided for cooling the cooling liquid carried in the cooling circuits.
According to the purpose of the internal-combustion engine and optionally as a function of different possible power stages of the same basic engine, it is desirable that the cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine be configured in different fashions with one or several liquid radiators. For this purpose, it is either necessary to machine parts of the housing of the internal-combustion engine in different manners corresponding to different cooling circuit configuration or to supply different additional flow-guiding housings for the cooling liquid for an optional mounting on the internal-combustion engine. This results in high expenditures for the manufacture of the internal-combustion engine and for the storage.
It is an object of the invention to provide an internal-combustion engine in which cooling circuits and liquid radiators can be configured differently in a simple manner.
This object is achieved according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention by providing a liquid-cooled, particularly water-cooled internal-combustion engine, particularly a water- cooled diesel engine, having a number of a number of cooling ducts, which are constructed in the internal-combustion engine and are assigned to different cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine which carry a cooling liquid, and having one or several liquid radiators for cooling the cooling liquid carried in the cooling circuits, characterized by a cooling-liquid guide housing having a number of first flow cross-sections connected with the cooling ducts constructed in the internal-combustion engine and assigned to the various cooling-liquid circuits, and having a distributor housing having a number of second flow cross-sections connected with the liquid radiator or radiators, the first flow cross-sections and the second flow cross-sections being constructed on mutually corresponding surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing respectively and being assigned to one another in the sense of establishing different possible flow connections between the cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine and the liquid radiator or radiators, and by an intermediate element arranged between the cooling-liquid guide housing and the distributor housing, which intermediate element has open passage cross-sections establishing a number of flow connections corresponding to a certain configuration of several possible configurations of the cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine and to one or several liquid radiators, between the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing, and blocks other possible flow connections between the first and the second flow cross-sections, the intermediate element being is selected from a number of intermediate elements which have different arrangements of open passage cross-sections corresponding to different possible configurations of the cooling circuits and the liquid radiators, and which intermediate elements can be exchanged for one another.
Further developments of the invention are described herein and in the claims.
As a result of the invention, a liquid-cooled, particularly water-cooled internal-combustion engine, particularly a water-cooled diesel engine, is created in the case of which a number of cooling ducts, which are constructed in the internal-combustion engine and are assigned to different cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine which carry a cooling liquid, are provided, and one or several liquid radiators are provided for cooling the cooling liquid carried in the cooling circuits. According to the invention, the internal-combustion engine has a cooling-liquid housing, which has a number of first flow cross-sections which are connected with the cooling ducts constructed in the internal-combustion engine and are assigned to the different cooling circuits, and a distributor housing, which has a number of second flow cross-sections connected with the liquid radiators or radiator. In this case, the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing are constructed on mutually corresponding surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing or of the distributor housing and are assigned to one another in the sense of establishing various possible flow connections between the cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine and the liquid radiator or radiators. Furthermore, an intermediate element is provided which is arranged between the cooling-liquid guide housing and the distributor housing, which intermediate element has open passage cross-sections establishing a number of flow connections corresponding to a certain configuration of several possible configurations of the cooling circuits of the internal-combustion engine and to one or several liquid radiators between the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing, and blocks other possible flow connections between the first and the second flow cross-sections. This intermediate element is selected from a number of intermediate elements which have different arrangements of open passage cross-sections corresponding to different possible configurations of the cooling circuits and the liquid radiators, and which intermediate elements can be exchanged for one another.
An important advantage of the internal-combustion engine according to the invention is the fact that, by means of only a few components, several different configurations of cooling circuits and liquid radiators can be implemented. Another advantage is the fact that, also in the case of an already installed internal-combustion engine, in the event of a power increase or modification, one cooling-circuit configuration can be replaced by another.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the mutually corresponding surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing respectively are plane surfaces, and that the intermediate element is constructed as a plane-parallel element and is arranged between the plane surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing.
The latter is preferably further developed such that the mutually corresponding plane surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing respectively have the same shape and size, that the mutually assigned first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing are arranged opposite one another in the mutually corresponding plane surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing respectively, and that the intermediate element is constructed as a plane-parallel plate with recesses forming the open passage cross-sections, the recesses each exposing flow connections between mutually opposite flow cross-sections of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing. The advantage is the simple and cost-effective producibility of the intermediate element as a plane-parallel plate and a small space requirement of the thus created arrangement.
According to a preferred embodiment, the mutually corresponding plane surfaces of the cooling-liquid guide housing and of the distributor housing respectively have an essentially rectangular basic shape, this rectangular basic shape in each case containing the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing respectively.
Preferably, the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing each form a matrix-type arrangement of flow cross-sections of a smaller rectangular basic shape or of flow cross-sections composed of rectangular basic shapes.
According to a preferred further development of the invention, the recesses constructed in the intermediate element, in the sense of influencing the passage cross-section between the first flow cross-sections constructed in the cooling-liquid guide housing and the second flow cross-sections constructed in the distributor housing, have the same or a smaller cross-section than the first and second flow cross-sections respectively.
According to an embodiment thereof, the recesses of the intermediate element have the same shape and size as the first or second flow cross-sections respectively.
According to an alternative embodiment, the recesses of the intermediate element are smaller than the first and second flow cross-sections respectively and have a rectangular or a circular cross-section.